Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Friday that the Liberal government plans to discuss a chip-manufacturing trade arrangement, mirroring the “north-south” integration of the car industry, during U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Canada next month. (The Logic)

Talking point: Champagne said the government is focused on promoting Canada’s expertise in the front end of the chip supply chain, design, and final stages of testing and packaging, but also wants to build a “full value chain” domestically. A chip manufacturing corridor is one of two Auto-Pact-like integrations that Champagne is pitching, alongside one for the aerospace and defense industry that was recently discussed in Washington. The minister made the comments to reporters at the Toronto-area chip hardware centre Venturelab, where he and Trade Minister Mary Ng met with startups and semiconductor experts from multinational chip giants like STMicroelectronics.